HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

Could this be the final 10-year deal for a player who will reach his 40s during the term?  Probably not!  Two days ago, the Detroit Tigers signed Miguel Cabrera to an eight-year extension giving Miguel a complete 10-year contract collectively worth $292 million.  That total value currently exceeds all other MLB multi-year contracts, including these:
 
Alex Rodriguez/$275 million/10 years/Yankees
Albert Pujols/$240 million/10 years/Angels
Robinson Cano/$240 million/10 years/Mariners
Joey Votto/$225 million/10 years/Reds
Clayton Kershaw/$215/7 years/Dodgers
Prince Fielder/$214 million/9 years/Rangers (but, was with the Tigers the first few seasons during the contract)
Michael Trout/$144.5 million/6 years (extension)/Angels

The last player from the list above (Michael Trout) just received his contract extension today.  That extension brings him to the age of 29, which is still considered young in baseball.  He and Clayton Kershaw are the only 2 players of the 7 that will not be anywhere near or over the age of 40 like the rest.  Simply put, both of their contracts make sense to me; but, the others are ridiculous.

What’s even worse is that all baseball fans, owners, general managers, and just about everyone who reads a newspaper or watches the news just finished experiencing the ramifications of what everyone had characterized as the worst sports contract of all time - the contract of Alex Rodriguez.  As he rounded near the age of 40, his health and offensive numbers proved to diminish - even with the aid of Biogenesis drugs.  The Yankees will still be stuck with his contract through 2017.

Getting back to the Tigers - they seemingly realized the original mistake they made a few years ago when they signed Prince Fielder to a $214 million contact by recently trading him to the Rangers; but, within just a few months of dumping his salary, they went ballistic by overspending on Cabrera.  Not only will he be in his 40s, but they already had him contracted for 2 more years.  Hence, they clearly bid against themselves with such a high amount at this stage of Cabrera’s career.  They also lessened their spending abilities towards extending the contract of their soon-to-be free agent, Max Scherzer.  He’s younger and had an expiring contract, which required more immediate attention!  Somebody in Detroit, either their owner (Mike Ilitch) or their General Manager (Dave Dombrowski) just made a “costly” mistake!!

Will they or any of the other owners (who claim to have spending restrictions) ever prove to have learned their lessons?  Will players such as Cabrera, Pujols, Cano, Votto, and Fielder show their worth as they get near the end of their contracts?  Will some of them end up like A-Rod in relation to cheating?

Of course some of the questions above will ultimately have the answer “Yes” because of one main reason (one that most baseball team owners haven’t learned yet):  history repeats itself.

INSTANT REPLAY…INSTANT REPLAY

I am ecstatic that MLB, along with its teams, players, owners, and the Players' Union have all agreed to implement instant replays beyond just the homerun calls this upcoming season.  Some baseball purists are against it, but I believe that they shouldn't deny the usage of today’s available technologies.  In fact, by utilizing these technologies, we can actually have the “purest” results because instant replays will help alleviate human error and enable the game to gain more integrity for its history and fans.  We all know people make mistakes and that’s what makes us human; but, why do we have to continually consent to avoidable mistakes when there is technology that “people” made to reduce them?  Besides, ironically most of the umpires encourage its usage, as they want their own calls to be correct!

Like the majority of today’s baseball fans, I have been frustrated with many erroneous calls by umpires over the years.  We’ve had too many (probably thousands) of such calls that have caused games and changed baseball history.  Here are just three that involved New York and one standout that involved Detroit:

1955 World Series - Dodgers’ Jackie Robinson supposedly stole home and Yogi Berra went ballistic.  This play is still argued in today’s era.  (Umpire Bill Summers)

1996 ALCS - Yankees’ Derek Jeter’s called homerun with Jeffrey Maier reaching over the wall & coercing the ball into his grasp.  (Umpire Rich Garcia)

2010 Non-Perfect Game - Tigers’ Armando Galarraga seemingly achieves a perfect game on the last supposed out of the game with a standard groundout to first baseman Miguel Cabrera and the throw to Armando with the runner out by at least a foot.  (Umpire Jim Joyce - who later apologized & admitted he made a mistake)

2012 Mets’ 1^st No-Hitter - Mets’ Johan Santana gives the team its first no-hitter in over 50 years, although a missed call in the 6^th inning whereby a ball hit by ex-Met Carlos Beltran clearly hit the leftfield chalk, as the chalk chopped into the air.  (Umpire Adrian Johnson)

Umpires' miscalls have stood out even more in recent years because of today's TV technologies.  Slow motion from numerous angles has visually magnified most miscalls.  This has given TV viewers an advantage over fans physically at the games, while also emphasizing umpires' mistakes.  I know, for me, it usually causes such frustrations (especially when the call is against the Yankees) that I end up screaming at my television set, almost believing the umpire can hear me through the television!

It’s hard enough to commit approximately 3 hours to watch a game, without having to see unjust calls change the outcome in many cases.  It’s become way too frustrating over time - even the umpires are humiliated, especially later when others definitively point out their flaws with televised replays as supporting proof.  That's one of the reasons why most of the umpires are in favor of the utilization of instant replay being used at the ballparks.  In the end, it lessens their chances of being called many names including "blind" and "idiot" - just a couple of the clean common adjectives used.

It is refreshing to know that MLB is persistent towards improving the integrity of the game that I love so much.  Game-used instant replay usage clearly demonstrates that to me.  This first phase of most instant replays will begin in just a couple of weeks.  Spring training games have already included the testing of it and helped prove that it's a very useful tool, without much disruption to the game's time.  As the season progresses, MLB will continually evaluate possible enhancements – another sign of common sense demonstrated by MLB.

Here's an outline of this whole new instant replay incentive:

Each manager can request for one obligatory instant replay per game within the first 6 innings, but must dispute the call quickly and before the next official game occurrence, while emphasizing the portion of the evidence he wants reviewed.  Additionally, each manager can earn just one other appeal within the first 6 innings if their first requested appeal was an overturned call – proving that he was right.  From the 7^th inning on, the umpires can still utilize the replay system if they, themselves, are in doubt or if a manager disputes it, but the umpires are no longer obligated in either instance. 

All applicable replay requests will be reviewed by a dedicated umpire in MLB’s New York Command Center.  If that umpire feels that the replay conclusively shows the original call as being incorrect, he will then communicate the irrefutable change or retained call to the on-field crew chief umpire to officially declare.  The umpire in the Command Center will also advise of any repositioning of applicable base-runners.  The same video replays will be available to the home team's stadium personnel and can separately be communicated to both teams' managers via the dugout phone.  Replays are also allowed to be shown on the stadium's monitor to the fans (close plays were forbidden to be shown in the past).  The Command Center's decisions are considered final.

Umpire calls that can be disputed with a replay to conclude:

Homeruns (which were already implemented in 2008); outfield trapped balls; ground-rule doubles; outfield fair/foul balls; batters hit-by-pitch; timing plays such as tag-ups versus the ball’s official catch; runners touching a base (with an appeal throw); trailing runners passing other lead runners; tag plays; fan interference; force plays (other than a double plays’ portion at second base); stadium’s boundary determinations; and any record-keeping, such as total strikes/balls.

Umpire calls that cannot be disputed with a replay:

Strike zone (balls & strikes); checked swings; second base outs via double play attempts (a.k.a. neighborhood plays); and potential trapped balls within the infield; or interference calls (such as a catcher's glove touching the batter's swinging bat).

Each dispute is expected to take less than 90 seconds collectively to review and declare.

SELECTIVE DYSLEXIA?

This past week, the Mets General Manager, Sandy Alderson predicted that the Mets should win 90 games this season - this is not a misprint on my part!  Now, I certainly know he couldn’t have accidently reversed the numbers from 09 (zero-nine) from his notes because even the Mets have never won that few during a season - although they still own the MLB record for least amount of wins (42) in a season.

Presuming he has some common sense, he must have a brain disorder I’m calling, “Selective Dyslexia” whereby he’s reading a 2014 notation with the standard two columns showing wins/losses.  That is logical because most folks with common sense know the 2014 Mets could win 72 games and lose 90.  I happen to like Sandy and am choosing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he couldn’t possibly be so gullible.

On the other hand, when the Mets owner, Fred Wilpon followed with, “We better win 90.” I had no doubt there wasn’t any form of Dyslexia from his statement - just pure brain stupidity and harshness towards blaming others.  After all, Fred was the owner who argued with (then) partnering owner Nelson Doubleday against acquiring Mike Piazza.  At that time he continuously blamed his partner for the Mets’ failures.  It’s a shame that the Mets’ ownership split up with wrong owner leaving the organization.

Years later, Fred was also the one who supposedly believed that Bernie Madoff was the only person in America who could produce investment returns of $300 million, with very little to invest and at a time in America when no one was profiting much at all from any investments.  Fred still enjoys enough profits to sit tight without much investment in his team.  He’s truly proved to be an arrogant owner who selfishly cares about himself well beyond caring about any of the dedicated Mets’ fans.  With that, how dare he throw such a threat to the media when he is the main culprit for blockading such a hope of winning 90 when they’d be lucky to even win 80!

So, for now, I am not choosing to hold Sandy accountable as some ailments are forgivingly unavoidable.  So, I’ll just claim he has Selective Dyslexia.  As for the Mets’ owner, I just hope Fred (or as Sandy calls him, “Derf”) speedily chooses to sell the team to possibly and finally soon offer a 90-win season the only way he can offer it, selfishly collecting money for himself through a sale, not an honest investment.

THE CAPTAIN’S BOW - JETER’S LAST SEASON

 

Picture taken by The NYY Writer

It was no shock, for me, to have heard Derek Jeter announcing his retirement after this one last season; however, I was shocked that he announced it before the season as opposed to the end.  He has continuously averted the spotlight from himself and solely concentrated on the bottom line of a win versus a loss.

By announcing his retirement prior to the first game of the season, it definitely draws more-than-usual personal attention directly to him.  His genuine love for his family, the NY Yankees, the game, and the fans may be the collective primary reasons why he’s chosen this early-announcement route:

- His father has stated to the media several times that he’s told Derek to enjoy the moments and the journey. 

- Derek continually spoke of his gratefulness for the Yankees’ organization, especially George.
- His respect for the game of baseball, no matter what team, has been portrayed with class throughout his career, even his respect for the Mets & Red Sox.
- Derek has an unbelievable genuine respect for the fans and we all feel it when we’re sitting there rooting for the Yankees.

Again, I believe these collective attributes of Derek contributed to his thought process.  Anybody who believes that Derek did this early announcement to get any accolades really hasn’t been watching the last 19 years of leadership and aura this “Captain” has demonstrated each day we’ve see him.

I will write another blog/article when his last season ends, along with the unbelievable numbers Derek has collected; but, like Mo, there’s a lot more to him than the baseball numbers we’re so accustomed to weighing.  For Derek, it’s never been about him, but for once, it really is.

DISMISSALS:  A-ROD & MIKE FRANCESA

Isn’t it ironic that the only two people who thought that A-Rod’s lawsuit cases against MLB & the Player’s Union had a chance are now without a voice to be heard or seen on the YES Network again?  Basically, in the same week, A-Rod withdrew both lawsuits, submitting to his 162-game suspension and Mike Francesa was withdrawn by the YES Network, ending his 12-year on-air broadcast with them.

Both dismissals give Yankees’ fans quite the opposite - affirmation and declaration!  It is now affirmed that we don’t have to deal with anymore court drama, while we can relate to the Declaration of Independence from both morons.

A-Rod may never play another game in a Yankee uniform, which is what most NYY fans hope.  That soap opera is still lingering, but it’s thankfully losing its storylines.  Perhaps the Yankees will make a compromising offer that will lessen the $61 million owed for the final two seasons (2015 & 2016).  At least in this coming season, we don’t have to deal with the saga.

Mike Francesa is only getting what he has deserved for a long time - someone to put him in his place and disconnect him!  The man has progressively gotten worse each year since his bitter loss of his “dog”.  Ever since Chris Russo (the Mad Dog) was dismissed from WFAN, Francesa has begun to act more and more like a brat. It’s bad enough listening to him on the radio waves rudely hanging up on his callers, but watching his expressions and temper tantrums on TV is even more humiliating.

He claims that the YES Network wanted sportscasters that only spoke on a lopsided sway to their liking.  Well, talk about calling the kettle black, he determinedly only listened to callers that saw things from his close-minded perspective.  Others were rudely hung up on by the world’s cockiest and rudest man.  Many of those callers were even ridiculed more, after their disconnections!

Sadly, Mike Francesa has a lot of knowledge in baseball, football, basketball and even horse racing; but, his knowledge has been increasingly fading to the back of his reputation with his rudeness moving to the forefront of his career.  Many guests have reportedly resisted wanting to be on his show anymore because of it, and many callers continue to call others who are more open-minded, who might at least give them a chance to opinionate!  Ironically, the radio station advertises itself as the “Fan” but it’s the “fan” that Francesa filters and selectively ignores.  Without fans, he’s sportscasting to himself.  Maybe this could help him realize this?  Nah, he’s too cocky and thinks the world revolves around him.

Rumors evolve that Francesa may soon be aired on another TV cable channel and A-Rod still has a contract that will pay him a very handsome amount whether or not he plays another MLB game; but, for this week’s dismissals, I bluntly state that the Yankees are currently disconnected from both...“Yes”!!!

YANKS SIGN MASAHIRO TANAKA

Banzai, Banzai, Banzai / 万歳, 万歳, 万歳 / Hurrah, Hurrah, Hurrah

 
Finally, the NYY fans have some very hopeful news as the New York Yankees signed Masahiro Tanaka this past week.  The acquisition offers two major positives:  pitching and no more restricted spending for the upcoming season.  We now potentially have a number one or two starting pitcher to help boost a not-so-old starting rotation.  Furthermore, the whole attempt for luxury tax savings for 2013-2014 has officially ended as the $155 million contract for seven years (with an annual average of $22 million for the first 6 years and the final year amounting to $23 million) clearly hits the ball out of the park for this upcoming season’s tax restriction goal.

Of course, NYY fans can’t help but reflect upon the pain still lingering from our past non-MLB experienced Japanese pitching acquisitions - Kei Igawa and the late Hideki Irabu; but, the Yanks have revamped their whole Japanese (and overall) international scouting system since those baseball “errors” and have also added many more scouts to offer multiple opinions to help offer variant analyses.  Plus, we’re not the only ones who feel strong about Tanaka’s potential - although we’re the only ones who have fully scouted him for seven years!  There were allegedly many teams that bid the mandated $20 million fee to negotiate with Tanaka.  If this signing somehow (although doubtful) doesn’t amount to a successful signing, the other teams would be hypocritical to point their fingers at the Yankees, especially the Dodgers, Cubs, and Diamondbacks, who each supposedly offered contracts similar enough to what the Yankees proposed.

Additionally, Tanaka’s signing didn’t cost the Yankees any draft picks or require them to lose any players in a trade.   For the Yankees, it just cost them money, which is something that’s never been an obstacle during the Steinbrenner era.  I happily state “never” because this transaction clearly proves that the young Steinbrenners have definitively demonstrated what they’ve stated all along - they will continue building the team with the desire their father had - to win at all costs.

So, as we continue to anticipate this upcoming season with a lot of new key players added to our roster, we now have further hope of at least making the playoffs, with a lot of finger-crossing for health this year.  We also still have to continue waiting  a little longer to see the final 2014 season blueprint for our weak infield and weakened bullpen, both of  which Brian Cashman has already acknowledged.  Thus, time will eventually show us a clearer picture in each of those areas, too.

For now, it’s exciting to know we have added another huge piece to the puzzle - a young, 25-year-old phenom from Japan with a superb split-finger fastball and an excellent slider.  If he can initially convert his overly impressive Japanese League record of 24-0/1.27 ERA into at least 16 wins and an ERA below 3.50 during his first MLB season, then we will have enough ace-like pitching hope for years to come.  Banzai, Banzai, Banzai!!!

THE A-ROD SOAP OPERA SAGA

Are there many level-headed Yankees’ fans out there that are not relieved that A-Rod will not be playing in 2014 (barring a very unlikely Federal Court decision, based on the official MLB/Players Association's Collective Bargaining Arbitration Hearing)?  I, for one, am soooooo tired of all of this!!! 

For years, I have tried to respect his past abilities.  He, like Barry Bonds, was a superstar that never needed to cheat to achieve a great career.  Players like Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa apparently chose to cheat to become undeserving superstars during their final years, while A-Rod, and Bonds apparently chose to cheat to remain superstars during their final years.

Here are the numbers surrounding today’s outcome:

162 games (full 2014 season) suspension (reduced from 211 games originally suspended)

$22,131,148 salary suspension for A-Rod / savings for Yankees during the 2014 season

$6,000,000 additional savings for the Yankees during the 2014 season (assuming A-Rod would have hit 6 homers to attain a career total of 660 homers) activating a contracted bonus

Although, in this country, everyone is innocent until proven guilty, it is evident (for those who have paid attention to the MLB’s Players Association since their existence) that the union has persistently fought and stood by all of their accused players...until they saw the evidence against A-Rod!  That, in itself, is beyond the obvious.  Hence, there's enough for me to believe since I am not privy to the supposed confidential evidence.

 
Now, once again, we have another major step taken towards helping us evaluate the Yankees’ spending and possible attainment of the avoidance of the 2014 luxury tax penalty for exceeding $189 million.  Our next analysis will have to wait until the Tanaka outcome.  Will he sign with the Yankees or one of the many other MLB teams that have bid for his services?  If he does sign with the Yankees, will the Yankees have any leftover money?  If he doesn’t sign, will the Yankees try to contract one or more of the remaining free agents?

There are so many questions that I can’t wait to see answered during the upcoming week/months for this crazy offseason!  I believe that the failed television soap opera writers and the Soap Network should have followed the Yankees’ scripts over the years.  Perhaps, then, they'd both still be in business.  At least we know ratings and bottom-line dollars are drawn to the unscripted Yankees and, for the last decade, A-Rod.  Stay tuned for more episodes!

BRIAN CASHMAN'S FAULT

Brian Cashman was named Senior Vice-President (SVP) and General Manager (GM) of the New York Yankees back in 1998 and continues to service both of those roles.  For a very long time I have supported and continue to support most of the related transactions Brian Cashman has made during that span; however, I have one major issue related to his GM responsibilities which I will divulge that later in this blogged article.

I'd first like to begin, though, by evaluating the standard performance of today’s GMs in MLB.  Obviously, no GM can claim perfection any more than any of us can for our own professional responsibilities.  Even the supposedly best GMs rarely achieve a credible success rate regarding either player transactions or team wins that are essentially attributed to them.  A prime example would be the recently famous GM from the Oakland A’s, Billy Beane.  He gained his fame from the book and movie, "Money Ball".  Both illustrate Billy Beane as a brilliant GM who has figured out the best strategies to win without too much money to spend.  Yet, if you really examine his record and you believe (like most Yankees’ fans) that the ultimate goal is winning a World Series, then you will recognize that Billy Beane has never accomplished the ultimate prize - making him a failure under those expectations.

Of course, achieving a World Series with very little money to spend in comparison to higher market teams such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, and even the cheap Wilpon-owned Mets is not an easy accomplishment; however, the Florida Marlins have proven to be better with the same financial restraints.  While they were only formed in 1993 (7 years prior to Beane's management of the A's), they've achieved 2 championships (1997 & 2003) – which is, by the way, the same amount of championships the New York market Mets have won in their 52 seasons of existence!  So, although the A's have successfully made it to the AL Division Playoffs five times during Billy Beane’s current 14-year tenure, they've also failed to win any of the five AL Division Playoffs!  Again, not many general managers have true success, not even the famous ones.

As for Brian Cashman, I feel he qualifies as one of the best-proven GMs, even though he has the financial advantage by his side.  The aforementioned high-salaried Yankees have won 4 World Series titles with him enacting his GM responsibilities.  Aside from having a lot of money at his disposal, Brian has also helped build winning teams through talent retention and overall smart free-agent signings.  For retention, he’s fought to keep players such as Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, and Jorge Posada.  For some smart free agent signings, he’s helped persuade the Steinbrenners to offer competitive deals to some key free agents that have helped the Yankees win championships.  Such free agents include “El” Duque, David Wells, Johnny Damon, Tino Martinez, Hideki Matsui, Raul Ibanez, Hiroki Kuroda, Russell Martin, Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, and Nick Swisher.  Of course, he’s also signed some free agents that most Yankees’ fans cringe over, such as Carl Pavano and A.J. Burnett, just to name two.

Other teams have failed to attain championships with decent money to spend, perhaps because they don’t have the same (overall) successful wit and shrewdness as Brian Cashman.  Such examples include the Atlanta Braves who only achieved one championship since 1958 and even the pre-Cashman Yankees of the 1980’s, who failed to win any championships.  So bravo to Brian’s key contributions, which I feel should certainly be considered a contributing factor to the Yankees’ last four championships. 

Well, now that I've ranked on Billy Beane, added some sarcastic remarks about the Mets as I “sometimes” do, and given decent credit to Brian Cashman, I'll continue onto my main concerning criticism of Brian Cashman:

While his trading skills have mostly been weak, I feel that his largest detriment as a general manager revolves around his stubbornness towards expiring player contracts.  Now, I'm not complaining about any of the lengthy contracts because most players can be traded in their later years to lessen some of the whole spend anyway (such as the Tigers' Prince Fielder).  I'm also not complaining about A-Rod's ridiculous contract because that was all "Hank" Steinbrenner's doing.  My major gripe is that Cashman stubbornly avoids contract extensions to players already wearing pinstripes!  He has even rolled the dice by allowing the contracts of Yankees’ greats like Mariano, Jeter, and Pettitte expire more than once.  Thankfully, Mariano and Jeter have always proven their loyalty to remaining a Yankee, even while other teams have been known to make higher or lengthier contract offers.  Yankees’ fans are also grateful that Andy Pettitte came back after Brian’s first contract debacle convinced Pettitte to leave for Houston.

This year, with Cano reaching free agency, Cashman's failure to negotiate contracts a year or two prior to their expiration was magnified.  Cano would not have had any conversation with the Mariners if Cashman had offered a true extension before last season even began.  There’s going to be another Cano instance if Cashman doesn’t change his contract strategies for quality-proven players already wearing pinstripes.  I have cringed way too many times over the last 16 seasons whenever such players have gotten to free agency; it’s too risky!  The Steinbrenners need to recognize Cashman's main weakness and correct it.  Maybe Brian can even recognize and fix it on his own.  In either case, it's time to sign these critical players to contracts before other teams get a chance to make offers.  Let's sign David Robertson and, if they're not trading him before the 2014 season begins, also Brett Gardner.  Otherwise, it will once again be “BRIAN CASHMAN’S FAULT”.

YANKEES’ TURNOVER

Hey Yankees’ fans, it looks like there's some great news as the Steinbrenners may have changed their minds about trying to stay under the luxury tax threshold of $189 million for this upcoming season!!  They are fully beginning to demonstrate that they will honor George Steinbrenner’s passion of persistently putting the Yankees in a position to win each and every year.  Since George's passing, his family - with Hal showing the most involvement - has shown most signs of wanting to stay involved while achieving more World Series Championships.  Then, last year they began planning to decrease the total salaries so that once the 2014 season began, their total team spend fell under the luxury tax trigger of $189 million (assuming A-Rod is still activated).  Most of the other team owners have certainly achieved that feat, but this would have been the first time any Steinbrenner ownership would have.  Now, with their attendance and YES Network ratings decreasing, along with the departures of Rivera, Pettitte, and possibly A-Rod, they apparently realize the timing of such a financial reduction may be the worst timing to achieve that goal.  At least, that's what it's looking like over the past week based on their most recent player signings!

With that, since my blogged article last month, the Yankees are already looking like a very different team.  Perhaps the Steinbrenners read my prior “Dismal Upcoming 2014 Season” article and realized how important it was to satisfy little ol’ me…yeah, right!  Anyway, let’s look below at this past week's many transactions of incoming and outgoing Yankees.  I'm sorry that this blogged article is so long, but there's so much to share from last week!

 

PLAYERS WHO HAVE LEFT

Robinson Cano - Robinson is now a Seattle Mariner!  I "liked" Cano, but even with his stats, I never quite felt he was one of my all-time favorites.  He and his agents led by Jay Z got very greedy, clearly showing their disregard for keeping Cano a Yankee player forever.  The Yankees offered him a very fair amount of approximately $175 million, but Cano and his agents went for the "now" money and didn't see the bigger picture in which he could have eventually made much more than the $240 million Seattle offered him.  From an offensive standpoint, I will miss his steady production numbers.  Defensively, I will miss his quick-wrist throws and over-the-shoulder catches.  As for his well-known lack of effort in running the base paths, I will not miss that any more than any other Yankees' fan.  Whether it was due to the money or pure anger towards the Yankees’ management, Robinson just hurt his fans and made his hugest error of any game he will play!  Ciao!

Curtis Granderson - Curtis is now a New York Met – having been signed to a 3-year contract worth a whopping $45 million (a lot of commitment from the Mets)!  Similar to Cano, I “liked” him, but never loved his contributions.  He is a very good player who hits a lot of homeruns, but he's not a superstar.  I do love his attitude, which seems very genuine.  His strikeouts are way too high, but he will add a lot of offense for the Mets who have desperately been seeking such a hitter for many years.  David Wright must be pleased to have some protection surrounding him in the lineup.  I wish nothing but good luck to Curtis.

Phil Hughes – The Minnesota Twins signed Phil to a 3-year contract worth $24 million.  Just like Cano, he was drafted by and had played only for the New York Yankees' organization.  Phil had many signs of showing greatness, but had more signs of inconsistencies.  His homerun pitches will not be missed, especially at Yankees Stadium.  The Twins' Target Field Stadium will help him somewhat on that front.  He's a good guy who helped us a lot in 2009 when he produced very dominantly in the bullpen after being asked to step away from his career role as a starting pitcher.  That season he was one of the main contributors towards our eventual World Series Championship.  So, for mostly those contributions, I can only wish him good luck – except when he pitches against the Yankees.

 

PLAYERS WHO HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED/RENEWED

Brian McCann - The Yankees contracted free agent catcher Brian McCann for 5 years at $85 million.  This is one of my favorite acquisitions in a long time!  Wow!  I love McCann’s stats and his demonstrated efforts in being a true gamer.  Earlier this week, I heard an interview with Hal Steinbrenner in which he credited Gene Michael for telling him that McCann reminded him of Thurman Munson.  That, alone, is the best compliment a ballplayer can be attributed!!  I can’t wait to see his offense but, even more so, I can’t wait to see a catcher call great games, again!  Not only do his Atlanta Brave career stats support that, but several pitchers in Atlanta have voiced it, too.  Welcome, Brian!!!

Jacoby Ellsbury - The Yankees contracted centerfielder Ellsbury for 7 years at $153 million.  I also love this acquisition.  He is one of the best leadoff hitters in the game today.  Yes, he’s had a lot of injuries, but most of them occurred with his aggressiveness via collisions and one fracture injury via a foul ball.  None of his so-called "prone" injuries have been caused by bodily deteriorations.  The Yankees have not had a successful typical leadoff hitter in very long time.  He will be a catalyst, just like he was for the Red Sox.  Plus, remember the Yankees’ addition is the Red Sox’s subtraction – remember Wade Boggs and Johnny Damon?  Let’s hope he doesn’t get hurt so we can truly enjoy his base running abilities which I find to be similar enough to Ricky Henderson.  He will be fun to watch!  Welcome, Jacoby!!!

Carlos Beltran - The Yankees contracted outfielder Beltran for 3 years at $45 million.  Beltran has wanted to become a Yankee since the day he was born - I'm sure he even sneakily rolled out of the hospital's bassinet back then to call George Steinbrenner and tell him about his love for the Yankees and his 9-month long dreams .  Past negotiations have never worked out for Beltran.  This time, he and the Yankees came to an agreement that will now finally provide Carlos his dream.  That love he has persistently expressed for the Yankees is reason alone to admire him!  His stats are very impressive, especially his playoff/World Series stats.  Although he's not young, his physical condition has been good enough to show he should be durable enough, at least at the beginning portion of his 3-year deal.  Of course, only time will tell.  Welcome to your dream, Carlos!

Kelly Johnson – The Yankees signed utility player Kelly Johnson for 1 year at approximately $3 million.  He has basically played first base, second base, third base, and leftfield fairly well and he has a decent bat.  Based on last year's injuries, this type of player is very valuable!

Hideki Kuroda - The Yankees re-signed starting pitcher Kuroda with a one-year contract worth approximately $16 million.  Last year, his pitching was great during the first 75% of his starts.  Ironically, his 2012 stats offered almost identical results during the same period.  He seems to tire afterwards resulting in a swift depreciation of his pitching repertoire.  Hopefully, we'll see a full season in 2014 that resembles his early strengths.  For a one-year contract, it's certainly worth the risk.  Welcome back, Hideki.

Brendan Ryan – The Yankees also re-signed infielder Brendan Ryan to a $4 million contract for two years.  While he only hit .220 during his short stint with the Yankees last year, he offers superb defense at shortstop.  That is an important need the Yankees have with Jeter's questionable health.  Hence, Brendan offers some insurance for 2014 at a position that doesn’t normally depend on a lot of offense.  Welcome back, Brendan.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Winter Meetings just began today and I fully expect the Yankees to make at least 4 more significant moves/signings before spring training.  Hopefully, this week MLB and Japan’s Nippon  Professional Baseball will reach an agreement regarding the main criteria enabling MLB to bid on Japanese players.  It is currently expected the deal will limit teams’ posting bids up to $20 million by any or multiple MLB teams.  Of course, the Yankees will undoubtedly be part of that bid this year, if it’s ever resolved, for Japan’s most successful pitcher of all time, Masahiro Tanaka.  His record this past season for them was merely 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA.  If the Japanese team (Rakuten Golden Eagles) accepts the bid and the Yankees can concoct the most attractive offer to allure Masahiro away from the other bidding teams, he can immediately qualify as the Yankees’ number one or number two starting pitcher in their rotation.

Additionally, I agree with a lot of the sports writers (for once) that it looks more and more like Brett Gardner may be traded.  The Yankees still have many holes to plug and their requirement for a starting pitcher (or two) is the most important.  No one else on the Yankees whose salary is attractive to perspective teams can bring back the value that Gardner can.  I like "Gardy", but his unbelievable speed failing to achieve great results in successful stolen bases brings part of his value to almost subpar for us.  Girardi has always expressed his appreciation for Gardner's speed, so Brian Cashman will have to ensure to bring back very good value in any deal in order to keep peace with Joe (and the fans).  I would personally rather have them trade Eduardo Nunez or Ichiro Suzuki; but, Eduardo's injuries and questionable defense and Ichiro's age and diminished skills won't offer too much in return; however, they can still trade them for a possible future player - perhaps from Single A or Double A.

Furthermore, I feel that the acquisition of Brian McCann enables another opportunity of trade.  Brian's signing affords the Yankees an opportunity to trade from their strongest and only current farm system depth - catching.  Several of their catchers are highly regarded, such as J.R. Murphy and Gary Sanchez.  They also have two other young catchers in Austin Romine and Biogenesis suspect, Francisco Cervelli.  In any case, the Yankees don’t need so many catchers now that they have an All-Star in Brian McCann.

So, whether they trade collectively or trade each individually, I feel that the Yankees have a chance of attaining some farm system strength, a top-tier pitcher, and even possibly a power-hitting infielder or right fielder, especially if they resist their self-restricted $189 million team for 2014.  Let's keep our fingers crossed!

At this point, with all of these new team players, Jeter will soon have to introduce himself during Spring Training 2014!!

 

DISMAL UPCOMING 2014 SEASON

Last offseason, I expressed my concern over the 2013 New York Yankees.  This offseason, I’m even more concerned!  As I've mentioned in previous articles, they are trying to stay under the $189 million annual luxury tax threshold.  This time, though, they have so many question marks.  Will A-Rod play any games for them in 2014 or any other year for that matter?  Will Robinson Cano wear another uniform and leave the Yankees as a free agent?  Will they be able to sign a new contract with Granderson and/or Kuroda, who both rejected their $14.1 one-year standard offer?  Will they replace diminishing Ichiro and Stewart?  Additionally, how many innings will Jeter be able to play, especially at shortstop?  Was CC Sabathia’s poor season a fluke or has he lost his velocity and control for good?  Then, of course, there are the retirements of Pettitte and Mariano - who are their replacements going to be?  Especially, Mariano - how do they replace the greatest closer of all time?

While I dislike writing negative articles about my favorite team, especially an article that illustrates such a bleak preview of a whole season (just like I had forced myself to write for last season’s dismal analysis), it is still an obligation for me to write candidly.  I currently feel that next year’s Yankees will be even worse than last year’s team.  With all the aforementioned questions above, how can they possibly compete against many of the best teams in baseball within their own division, especially while trying to cut costs?

From a financial standpoint, they do have one major optimistic hope for financial alleviation if A-Rod is suspended for the majority of the season as originally determined by MLB for his alleged biogenesis usage/involvement.  If that suspension is upheld, it would result in the Yankees having approximately $35 million extra to spend on acquisitions.   It is currently anticipated that decision will not be made by the arbitrator for that case until late December; but that story keeps changing every other day.

Hence, with current conditions, the Yankees could feasibly need a shortstop, a second baseman, a third baseman, a left fielder, a right fielder, a catcher, a closer, and two starting pitchers.  Plus, they have to accomplish all of that during their only financially restricted year during a Steinbrenner era.  So fans, try to keep the faith that I have - they’ll be back to their normal spending ways once this year’s fiscal responsibilities help alleviate their luxury tax penalties for years to come.  Let’s all look forward to their 2015 season!!!

PAPI'S EXCUSED DISHONESTIES (P E D)

First of all, let me start by stating that, as a NY Yankees' fan, his October has been very disappointing. Instead of watching the Yankees in the playoffs, I'm watching other teams. Most New Yorkers aren't even watching one game, but, as the true baseball fan that I am, I simply cannot avoid watching the last remaining MLB games of the year! Of course, it's a no-brainer that I (and any true Yankees' fan) cannot root for Boston!!

The only major things that have happened with the Yankees this October have been Girardi's extended contract (congrats, Joe) and A-Rod's arbitration case and recent lawsuits against MLB and Doctor Ahmad, his surgeon. I'm sure that most, if not all, NYY fans have lost their patience with all of this A-Rod propaganda. He’s his own worst enemy as he is really the only one to blame – so, for that I don't feel sorry for him.

That now leads me to my main topic, which is regarding another accused PED (Performance Enhancing Drug) user, David Ortiz (Big Papi). As I've been watching the Boston playoff games (the Red Sox are currently leading the Tigers 2 games to 1), my mind’s few remaining working gears have been developing anger every time I see another accused PED cheater, David Ortiz. During the American League Championship Series (ALCS), the announcers (Tim McCarver & Joe Buck) never dare to talk about Ortiz’ accusations & findings from the 2003 tests.

On Sunday night’s telecast of the ALCS/Game 2 playoff game versus the Tigers, Ortiz hit a dramatic homerun to tie the game in the 8th inning. If A-Rod hit the grand slam in that situation the other night instead of "Big Papi" Ortiz, then Tim & Joe would have unhesitantly begun citing the past findings and placing some form of doubt relating to the grand slam feat (especially Joe Buck). Yet, neither announcer dared to say a word about that topic and its ties to Ortiz.

In fact, they continued to sensationalize the effects of the home run throughout every trotting step Ortiz took around the bases – while the Tigers' Torii Hunter was lying on the other side of the fence, physically as out of the ballpark as the ball was. When I first saw the homerun, during its sailing travels towards the fence, I couldn't believe the daring effort that Torii took, as he never even slowed down as he got inches away from the fence. (Remember Jeter running into the stands to catch a foul ball?) Then, as I saw Torii’s body completely flip viciously over the fence, I felt totally petrified for his life! Yet, I had to wait until the exuberant announcers finally issued some form of attention to the Torii situation - the one in which a man’s life could have been lost.

Then, after that, I saw the replay which showed the Boston policeman stationed in the bullpen area where the homerun was hit raising his arms in excitement, instead of doing his “job” - like immediately running over to help Torii. Great job, officer, you’ve proven to be a Sawx fan in every aspect!

There’s no doubt that I envy the Red Sox for being in the playoffs instead of the Yankees, but I also have no doubt that if A-Rod hit that homer in the same exact situation against the Tigers, I still would have shown the same concern over Torii - before A-Rod even rounded first base. Additionally, I would have begun to think about the real PED users, just like I would if the Yankees’ Cervelli hit the grand slam. It’s a shame that most of the baseball world is blinded and has a short-term memory only when it comes to the Papi’s Excused Dishonesties.